Christmas In Magnolia - A NaWen Wentsu Fanfic
by CourTrain
Summary: It's Christmas time in Magnolia, and Wendy is struggling to confess her feelings to her friend Natsu. Does he feel the same way? What will become of their relationship? And how does Lucy feel about all the time Natsu is spending with Wendy...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

December 20th – With Christmas rapidly approaching, the members of Fairy Tail hurriedly prepare for the festivities and the annual Christmas Eve Festival in Magnolia. Wendy, now age 14, is trying to come to terms with her feelings for her favourite pink-haired Dragon Slayer, but will this year's festival be enough of a push for her to confess to Natsu?

Wendy Marvell trudged through the snow covered streets of Magnolia on her way to her guild, Fairy Tail. The young bluenette had been in the guild for the last 2 years, and she regarded them as the best 2 years of her life. She had blossomed from the weak and timid girl she had once been years ago to a strong and independent member of the guild she now called home. She had met many people that had helped her come out of her shell, and she couldn't imagine her life without the raucous and wild antics of the famous guild she came to love over the years. Wendy had never celebrated Christmas on such a grand scale, as she had chosen to go on a week-long mission over the holidays the previous year, much to the disappointment of her fellow guild mates. As she neared the large front doors of her guild, she couldn't help but notice the amazing job Mira had done decorating the outside of the guild hall. Adorned in lights of all colours from top to bottom, she smiled at her effort as she pushed open the front doors of her guild hall and stepped inside, wiping her snow covered boots on the mat as she entered. A loud chorus of "WENDY!" erupted from all of her guild mates upon her arrival, much to the embarrassment of Wendy. As she walked through the guild towards the bar, she took note of all the holiday festivities her friends were taking part in. Cana and Macao were engaged in their usual drinking contest, which always resulted in Macao out cold on the floor after falling backwards in his chair. Elfman was yelling at Evergreen that her holiday spirit was not "Man"enough , which promptly led to him being turned to stone from a piercing glare after she shot back, "I'm a woman!". Lisanna, sitting at the nearest table, quickly dragged Elfman's stone form over to the corner and threw a sheet over it as the guild members that witnessed the spectacle burst out into laughter. Erza was quietly eating her strawberry cake in the corner, and Gajeel and Levy were sitting at another table, Levy reading a book and Gajeel sulking as usual. At that moment, Gray came flying across the room, crashing through a table in the process.

"What the hell was that for, flame-brain?!" said Gray.

"You wanna go, exhibitionist?" said Natsu, who was wearing a Santa Claus hat, which clashed oddly with his already strange wardrobe.

Gray swung at Natsu, hitting him in the face and sending him flying back to the pillar next to Wendy. She groaned. Wendy _hated_ when Natsu and Gray got in fights, which she found strange, seeing as last year she would have just sweat-dropped and tried to stay as far away from them as possible. Summoning as much courage as she possibly could, she yelled, "Natsu-san, please stop fighting!". Natsu turned to look at her, mouth agape and releasing Gray's collar in the process. "Uh…sure Wendy." said Natsu sheepishly. _Did Natsu-san just listen to me when I told him to stop fighting?_ she thought in disbelief. As far as she knew, the only one that was able to break up a fight between Natsu and Gray was Erza, and she usually didn't even bother unless she was caught up in the crossfire.

"Tch…figures you'd pussy out from a fight, idiot." said Gray.

"Hey," Natsu said, looking at Gray with a serious expression, "I want to kick your ass too, but…Wendy asked me to stop. So we'll have to finish this another time." said Natsu, walking away from an angry Gray.

"Come on Wendy, let's see what Mira is up to." said Natsu, taking her hand as he led her to the bar. Wendy's heart skipped a beat and she could feel herself going red as a tomato. _D-Did N-Natsu-san just take my hand?_ For as long as Wendy could remember, she had had a crush on the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. She loved everything about him from his charismatic and cheerful attitude to his toothy grin that seemed to melt her heart every time he flashed it at her. For as long as she had known her feelings for her friend, she could never pluck up the courage or find the right words to tell him her feelings for him. Besides, she was only 14, why would he choose the young bluenette over Lucy or Lisanna. They were much more pretty, well developed and had bigger…assets than Wendy. It was hard for Wendy to not discourage herself with so much competition. As Natsu led her to the bar, they both took a seat next to each other and Mira set down the glass she had been polishing and walked over to serve them. "Hello Natsu, Wendy, what can I get for you two?"she said cheerily. Natsu ordered a beer and Wendy ordered an orange juice. As she handed Wendy her glass, Wendy noticed the look Mira was giving her, one that seemed to tell Wendy that Mira was getting some romantic ideas about them seeing as she had seen them holding hands moments before. "Mira, it's not like that…" said Wendy, reading her mind and trying to dispel any ideas she was getting, but Mira interrupted, "Oh, don't worry Wendy, _I understand." _She said that last part very sarcastically, unbeknownst to Wendy that she knew that Wendy has had feelings for Natsu since she joined the guild. One of Mirajane's favourite pastimes was playing matchmaker amongst her friends, attempting to pair everyone off with each other to appease her fantasies of the two finally getting together. Natsu, who had listened to the exchange between girls with a puzzled look on his face, asked, "What are you two talking about?" Mirajane simply smiled at him and said, "Oh, nothing important. So, who are you getting a gift for for this year's Secret Santa, Natsu?" He looked at her with a playful grin on his face and said, "That's a secret, Mira." Wendy, confused, asked, "Secret Santa, what's that?" Mirajane and Natsu explained that it was a Fairy Tail tradition where people anonymously buy gifts for each other for Christmas. After hearing that, a lightbulb went off in her head. _That's how I can show Natsu-san my feelings! I'll just buy him a gift!_ The plan sounded foolproof in the young girl's head. Wendy quickly finished her orange juice and thanked Mira, and hurried out of the guild to go tell Charle her plan to win Natsu's affection. After a few minutes of running top speed through the snow covered streets of Magnolia, she reached Fairy Hills, the girls-only dormitory for Fairy Tail members. She entered Fairy Hills and walked up the stairs and down the hallway to her room she shares with her Exceed companion, Charle. Upon entering her room, she was greeted by her friend Charle, who had just woken up from her afternoon nap. "Charle, I have the greatest idea to get Natsu-san to notice me!" she said excitedly. "What is it, Wendy?" said Charle, rubbing her eyes. "I'm going to buy Natsu-san a present for the Secret Santa at Fairy Tail and tell him that I got it for him, and then I'll let him know how I feel!" said Wendy, squealing with anticipation. "That's not a bad idea child, but what exactly will you buy him?" questioned Charle, which immediately caused Wendy to lose all her excitement. The young bluenette pondered this for a moment. "I..I don't know!" she said, beginning to tear up as she started to doubt her plan already. Lucy and Lisanna know Natsu better than she does, they probably know what he likes for a present too. "Wait, Wendy, don't cry now, there's still 5 days before Christmas and there's plenty of time to find him a gift." said Charle reassuringly, trying to calm the petite Dragon Slayer's hysterical sobbing against her pillow. She looked up, sniveling and tears streaming down her face and said, "You think so?" Charle nodded, and said, "I know so. Now calm down, and let's go shopping for his gift." After saying that, she smiled weakly at her friend as she heard a knocking on her door. "Yes?" she called. "Wendy, Natsu is here to see you."

Wendy's heart skipped a beat at what she just heard. Natsu was here to see…_her?_ She flew out of the door to her room and almost hit Erza on her way down the stairs to the front door of Fairy Hills. She opened the door to find her favourite Dragon Slayer waiting at the doorstep. He smiled his famous grin at her and said, "Hey Wendy." Wendy beamed at him and replied, "Hello Natsu-san, what can I help you with?" Natsu looked at the ground and quietly said, "I was going to see if you wanted to come take a walk through town with me. Maybe we can look for presents for the Secret Santa too while we're out." Wendy was overjoyed that he would invite her of all people to come on a walk with him, and told him to wait there and she'd be right back. She ran back inside and grabbed her coat, and returned to the door where Natsu stood waiting for her and told him she was ready. They set off down the street, both of them walking in a somewhat awkward silence for a few minutes. Finally, Natsu spoke up and said, "Hey Wendy, if you didn't want to come with me, you can go home, I won't blame you." Wendy snapped out of her trance and looked at Natsu with a sad expression on her face. Had she made Natsu-san feel like she didn't want to be with him? That couldn't be farther from the truth, she loved being with him, no matter what they were doing! She looked up at him and said, "Natsu-san, there's nowhere I would rather be than here with you. I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't want to be here, that's not what I intended." The little bluenette felt herself began to tear up at the thought of Natsu feeling unwanted, when he did something she couldn't have expected. He stepped forward faster than she could've predicted and pulled her into a tight hug, nestling his head against her soft blue hair. "Thank you Wendy, really. That...means a lot coming from you." His embrace felt like the safest place in the world, and Wendy, getting over her initial shock, rested her hair against his chest. It was clear neither Dragon Slayer wanted to part from each other, and as they stood there in the middle of the street, arms wrapped around each other, Mira giggled at the sight, snapping a picture of the two teenagers from behind the snow covered tree she was hiding behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After another few moments of basking in Natsu's warm embrace, she finally released him and said,

"I'm really glad you asked me to come with you today, Natsu-san. I'm surprised you didn't invite Lucy-san or Lisanna-san in my place."

"Well, Lucy went on a mission with Gray and Juvia, and Lisanna had to help Mira out at the guild serving drinks today. It doesn't matter anyways, you were my first choice regardless." said Natsu, giving her a small smile.

"That's...really nice of you N-Natsu-san. Thank you." Wendy replied, blushing slightly at his kind gesture.

Beaming down at her, he exclaimed, "Of course! That's what nakama are for, Wendy. Ready to go?"

She happily nodded, and they set off down the street that lead to the centre of town. Magnolia was much less lively around this time of year, many citizens huddled around the fires in their small homes or off shopping for presents in the centre of town. Wendy wasn't much of a fan of the winter season, but being in such close proximity to Natsu made her feel strangely warm and comfortable. She couldn't care less what season it was as long as he could be by her side. All of her problems seemed to melt away at his playful smile and childish attitude, and it was hard to imagine what life would be like without him or her other friends from the guild.

Finally speaking up, Natsu questioned, "Hey Wendy, what was your first Christmas like?"

Wendy thought to herself for a moment, and said, "Well, I never celebrated Christmas when Grandeeney-san was looking after me. For whatever reason, she really didn't care for the holiday. When I joined Caitshelter, we always had a great big party on Christmas Eve, and then everyone exchanged presents on Christmas Day. It wasn't anything special, but as long as I was with my guild, that didn't matter."

"It's too bad you missed Christmas at Fairy Tail last year, it was awesome! I got to beat up the ice-prick, we partied and drank all night long until Cana was the last man (or woman) standing, and Juvia kept trying to lure Gray under the mistletoe. I think Freed even tried to lure Laxus under the mistletoe one time until he got punched across the guild. I wish you could've seen it Wendy, you would've loved it. Why did you have to take a mission anyways, it's not like you needed money or anyth-" said Natsu, until he was interrupted by Wendy starting to tear up.

"W-Wendy! What's wrong, did I say something? Do you want me to punch myself?" stammered Natsu, unable to determine why Wendy had started crying.

"It's not that, N-Natsu san. It's just that...this time of year reminds me of Grandeeney-san and my old guild. Everything precious to me has disappeared, and I didn't want to think of what losing you all would be like too." said Wendy, in between the stream of tears flowing down the young girl's face.

"Wendy...", said Natsu, taking his hand under her chin and lifting her head up to meet his eyes. "I'm...sorry about what happened to Grandeeney and your guild. I didn't know that was the cause of all your sadness at this time of year, but I promise you that Fairy Tail won't ever disappear while I have anything to say about it. Just..." Natsu paused for a moment to take her small hand into his own, "Stay close to me. I won't ever fade from your life, I promise. Now promise me one thing too."

He took his hand and wiped away the tears from her sad face, saying "Don't cry, alright? I hate seeing you cry, it drives me crazy."

Wendy stopped her crying, and smiled weakly up at her friend. Although people might think Natsu is a bit of an idiot at times, he has moments where he knows exactly what to say or do, to tug at your heartstrings and make you wonder if this was even the same person that you knew before. Before she had even joined Fairy Tail, Natsu had been there for her. Rescuing her from Oracion Seis to saving her guild Caitshelter, he had gone to lengths much beyond necessary and had extended the hand of friendship before she had even considered taking it. He had led her to the guild she now called home and couldn't live without, and she had brought her out of her shell to make her into the girl she had always dreamed of being: confident, strong, powerful and surrounded by friends. Without Natsu, she knows her life could be bleak and full of sorrow, but he was always the light to her darkness, her knight in shining armour and her Prince Charming. He had stolen her heart before she had even known it was gone, and he would forever hold the key to her happiness. It took the Christmas season for her to understand fully how much of a blessing it was to have such a wonderful person in her life, and she hoped and prayed he would never leave her alone for as long as she drew breath. She had been thinking for a minute or so, and since Wendy hadn't said anything since Natsu wiped away her tears, Natsu asked,

"Are you alright, Wendy? Do you still want me to punch myself?"

Giggling profusely, she said, "No silly, don't do that. What you can do, however, is tell me the story of your first Christmas."

"Oh yeah!" said Natsu, "I almost forgot about that. Well let's see, like Grandeeney, Igneel never understood why humans celebrated Christmas and didn't teach me to celebrate it either. I can tell you about my first Christmas at Fairy Tail though. I remember it like it was yesterday, I was going at it with the exhibitionist before Erza hit us both over the head and told us to stop fighting in the guild. Being Christmas Eve, the next day was going to be the day of the Secret Santa, and I hadn't thought to get anybody a present. It was my first year in the guild, and I still didn't have a ton of friends besides Lisanna or Happy.

***Flashback* **

Natsu sat at a table with Lisanna and Happy as members of the guild fought, drank and ran around trying to finish preparing for the big day tomorrow.

"So, Natsu, who did you buy a gift for this year?" asked Lisanna.

"Well, I don't have any friends, so who am I going to buy a gift for?" grumbled Natsu.

"I'm your friend, Natsu! Didn't you think of me at all?" said Lisanna, lip quivering and on the verge of tears at her friend's negligence.

"Yeah yeah, you're right Lisanna. Sorry for forgetting about you, I'll get you a gift." he replied.

"You don't have to get me anything Natsu, it's the thought that counts. Say Natsu, has anyone ever given you a Christmas present before?" asked Lisanna.

"Of course! That's where I got my scarf from after all!" Natsu exclaimed with a grin, pointing to his scarf he was never seen without.

"Your scarf was a Christmas present?!" asked Lisanna.

"Yep. It's my favourite and only present I've ever gotten. I couldn't ask for anything more."

As Natsu finished his story of his first present, members of the guild began to clear out, seeing as it was getting late and they had many celebrations the next day. Natsu decided to call it a night, slightly eager to start the next day and his first real Christmas

***end of Flashback* **

"Did you end up getting Lisanna-san a present, Natsu-san?" asked Wendy, curious at his lack of a real ending to his story.

"Yeah, I tied a bow on Happy's head and gave it to her. I wasn't exactly very creative when it came to gift shopping."

Wendy sweat-dropped at Natsu's response, but still found it quite funny. Wendy hadn't noticed, but the sun was beginning to set on Magnolia, signaling the end of the day. She wondered where all of their time went, seeing as they hadn't even begun the shopping they had planned to do since the afternoon.

"It's starting to get late Wendy, I should probably get you home." said Natsu, offering his hand to the petite Dragon Slayer.

She happily welcomed his hand into hers, and they began the walk back towards Fairy Hills. The colour of the snow-covered ground with the dim lights of the street lights made for a pretty scene. She found herself snuggling into Natsu's shoulder as they walked, which Natsu found a bit surprising but was happy nonetheless. Natsu had a great time today, and he couldn't wish for a better way to spend his evening than with his favourite fellow Dragon Slayer. Upon reaching the front door to Fairy Hills, Wendy climbed the first few steps, spun around, and boldly kissed Natsu on the cheek, saying very quietly,

"Thank you for today, Natsu-san. Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully, longing for his undivided attention.

"Of course, Wendy. Good night." said Natsu, flashing his trademark smile at the young girl before walking away down the dimly lit street.

Wendy closed the door and slumped down against the wall, sighing. She had truly fallen head over heels for him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Hello everyone! Thanks a tonne for reading my fic, it means a lot to me even getting a few favs or a review considering it's my very first fic. Anyways, I'll try to update again in a few days, but if I get a spark of inspiration maybe I'll try for a daily updates. Enough of my rambling, enjoy! **

Wendy awoke with a start, panting heavily and her heart thudding in her chest. _Another dream about him, _she thought to herself. It hadn't even been a whole day since she had seen the pink-haired Dragon Slayer and her recurring fantasies in her dreams had only gotten more vivid after the long afternoon/evening she had spent with him the day before. The dreams were always something that put a smile on her face whenever she woke up the next morning, however. They were always sweet, and reminded her how often the young man was on her mind and how much she truly cared for him. Even though Wendy was a stranger to love, and Natsu was about as oblivious as always, she could pick up on the small things he was doing to show her that he cared for her too. From holding her hand to comforting her in times of need, he had gone out of his way to show her that he was there for her, and always wanted to be her shoulder to lean on. _Maybe...he feels the same way about me?_ she thought to herself. It was a question that had kept her up late last night, trying to recall whether Natsu had ever been as touchy with other girls in the guild as he had been with her. Wendy had witnessed Natsu protect Lucy many times, but it just seemed like he had been doing that out of a sense of camaraderie, and not a sense of true love. Then again, Wendy had no idea how Natsu's mind worked, and for all she knew, he could be subconsciously doing things like that to Lucy and Lisanna as well as her, and maybe he didn't have feelings for any of them. Wendy sighed, knowing her efforts to understand Natsu's intentions were fruitless. Rolling out of bed, she walked into the bathroom and stepped into the shower to wash herself off. A half an hour later, and Wendy had finished getting cleaned up and swiftly did her hair and put on a light-blue dress under her winter coat and set off for the guild. Upon arrival, Wendy was greeted by her usual "WENDY!" from all of the guild members upon noticing her entrance, and she waved hello to them all and set off to find Natsu.

"Hey, Wendy! Come over here and sit with us!" called Lucy, who shared a table with Levy.

She walked over and greeted the two women and took a seat.

"Sooooo...Wendy." said Lucy, who was wearing a very noticable smirk on her face. "I heard you and Natsu went on a hot date last night, eh?"

Wendy's face turned the colour of a tomato and stammered, "N-n-no Lucy-san! T-That's not w-what happened! W-We were just shopping!"

"Whatever you say, Wendy. Or should I say...love rival?" Upon noticing Wendy's reaction to the words "love rival", Lucy and Levy burst out laughing and said, "I'm only kidding Wendy, relax. I'm glad that you and Natsu are so close, really. He deserves someone as good as you."

Wendy beamed at the compliment from her friend, while at the same time feeling extremely grateful that Lucy seemed to not have any romantic feelings for Natsu. _That makes one less love rival._ she thought, feeling relieved. Wait, love rival? Now she was thinking like Juvia.

"Have any of you seen Natsu-san today? I needed to tell him something." Wendy asked.

"Funny you mention Natsu Wendy, he actually asked me to help him look for a book today in the guild library." said Levy.

"A book?" asked Wendy. While she didn't think Natsu was dumb in the slightest, he wasn't exactly the type of person to sit still and read for long periods of time. The idea of Natsu reading for fun was something she couldn't picture with a straight face.

"Yeah, weird right? He wanted me to help him look for a book on some ancient magic only Dragon Slayers could use. What's even stranger is that since you can only learn offensive Dragon Slaying magic from real dragons or unlocking it from Second Origin like you Wendy, it must have been a spell or ability that couldn't be used in combat. I never thought that he would take the time to learn something that he couldn't use to burn an enemy to a crisp." replied Levy, looking perplexed. "I asked him what he was trying to learn but he wouldn't tell me, said that it was something only the strongest of Dragon Slayers could use, and once you used it, there was no going back. He sounded pretty serious, why don't you go pry at him for a bit?"

"Hmm, sure thing Levy-san. Thanks!" said Wendy, running off towards the guild library. Now she was curious to see what Natsu had devoted himself to learning, which had to be a first for him. Entering the guild library, which was dimly lit and covered in dust, she scanned the long room for her crush. Spying Natsu sleeping on a table, she ran over to find a book lying next to his hand on the table. Clearly, he had exhausted himself from working hard to learn this magic, and Wendy thought his effort was very cute. What caught her eye, however, was the headline of the page that he had opened in the book. "**Dragons: How they find their mates and how they mark them." **At first she was confused, but then blushed profusely at the ideas that she was getting from why Natsu had been reading this. Why is he reading about dragons and their mating rituals? Somewhat reluctantly, she began to read the contents of the page.

**Dragons are among the rarest creatures to roam Earthland. With them being so few in number, it is ingrained in a dragon's mind from birth, much like other animals, to find a suitable mate as soon as possible and produce offspring. For dragons, however, the mating process and ritual is different than that of other animals. When it comes to dragon mating, they have an extremely high fertility rate due to the dire need to reproduce, as well as to produce as much offspring as possible. The dragon mating ritual is one that is performed by the male dragon biting down on the female's neck, marking her as his own. When dragons mate, they mate for life. After a dragon has mated with another, he will never take another mate, and places the safety of his mate at the highest priority. Should a male dragon's mate be killed, the male dragon will also begin to slowly lose his life force until it too perishes. The cause of this is the great number of attributes and magic that is shared between dragons with the initial bite of the mating ritual. When a male dragon mates with a female, he shares his life force with the female, greatly prolonging the lifespan of the two dragons but also linking them together. A number of other attributes has been observed after the dragon mating ritual, such as a mixing of the two powers of the dragons should they be elemental dragons (fire, air, water, lightning, etc.) With the addition of humans being able to use Dragon Slaying magic, since they take on attributes of dragons, all of these conditions apply to the humans as well. Much is still unknown about the effects of mating as Dragon Slayers on humans, leaving almost all of the side effects still a mystery. **

_W-wait, was Natsu-san thinking of...mating with me?! _Wendy didn't even know what to think, so many different thoughts and scenarios were racing through her head and this was all too much to take in at once. She resolved to shake Natsu softly, and he grumbled a bit and opened his eyes upon hearing her voice.

"Natsu-san...please wake up." she said in a worried tone.

"Wendy...what are you doing here?" he mumbled.

"Natsu-san..." said Wendy, not answering his question. "Were you thinking of trying to..."

Natsu raised one of his eyebrows, "Hmm?"

"...mating with me?" she squeaked, unable to keep the blood from rising to her face and blushing profusely.

Natsu's jaw hit the floor. _Did she read the book? Gah, I'm such an idiot for falling asleep. Now I have to explain myself to her, _Natsu thought to himself. Sighing at his own idiocy, he placed a hand on Wendy's shoulder and said,

"Listen, Wendy. I didn't want anyone to get any wrong ideas, so that's why I came here to look for the book to read by myself. I...wasn't trying to...you know, mate with you, I just wanted to learn that stuff because..." He couldn't even finish his sentence he was so embarrassed, blood rising to his face and feeling very uncomfortable, but Wendy decided to finish it for him.

"...because you like me, right?" she said sheepishly, also averting his eyes, now blushing herself. Natsu paused and stared at her, apparently deep in thought. Had she said something wrong? Oh, she prayed she hadn't made a fool out of herself in front of him, how could she just say something like that so abruptly?!

"Yeah. Yeah, I do Wendy. I have for a long time." he said, grinning ear to ear much to her surprise. "_I have for a long time." _The sentence replayed itself over and over again in her head. She felt lightheaded, and for a second thought she was going to faint from the impact of his words. _  
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"B-but what about Lucy-san? And Lisanna-san?" she squeaked nervously, afraid that she had imagined his words.

"Don't get me wrong, I care deeply about all three of you. My life wouldn't be the same without any of you. But...you're different Wendy. What Lisanna and I had as kids...when she "died", I thought that part of my heart was broken forever. My first love, my first kiss...it all was nothing but memories when she was sucked up by the Anima. When she came back after Edolas, part of my heart was still hoping that it was my Lisanna from years ago, and that we could fall in love again and everything was going to be like how it was before she left. But...whatever we had back then, it disappeared along with her. As much as I hate it and I still wish that things could have been different, I now know that my future is still very bright." Upon saying this, he ruffled her hair affectionately, earning him a teary smile from the young bluenette. Wiping away her tears, he continued, "Lucy is very special to me too. When I brought her to the guild that day, and we formed a team...I thought I had found my princess. She was special at first, like you, but...she's also changed. Before I met you, I would've said that I was definitely in love with Lucy. However, I was unsure of my own feelings at the time. I knew that she was something I had to protect, and that the guild wouldn't be the same without her, but...I now know that my feelings for her were one sided. We'll always be friends, comrades, guildmates...but I wanted more, and I guess she didn't think I was the one. It made me angry, when I was alone I would go out into the forest and just destroy everything around me. I was like a hurt animal, trying to defend myself from the inevitable conclusion that Lucy would never love me. I thought about leaving the guild, wandering the land and...just disappearing. My heart had already been broken and Lucy had walked all over the pieces, even if she never meant to hurt me. It was unfair of me to do that to her, and I wish things could've been different, like with Lisanna. The day before the Oracion Seis mission, I was prepared to leave the guild the next day, to cut ties with the one place that I could truly call home. It was going to hurt, and I knew that, but every time I went to the guild and saw Lucy's face...I broke down moments after. I barely had time to run out of the door before I turned into a mess, crying and screaming at nobody in particular. It was the worst point in my life, and no matter how many times Erza...Mira...even Gray tried to comfort me, tell me it was going to be OK, I just couldn't take it any more. The pain was killing me, and even Master agreed with me that I needed to take a break from the guild if I was to ever get better. I went home that day and packed my bags, unable to tell Happy why I was doing so, and I told him that all he needed to know was that I was hurting...badly, and that I needed time to clear my mind. As much as I hated to leave my best friend, he reminded me of all my adventures with Lucy and the guild, and that wasn't good for my recovery. As I was finishing packing, Master paid me a visit at my house. He told me that Team Natsu was embarking on a mission to help defeat the Dark Guild Oracion Seis, and that my help was crucial to the mission's success. He knew how I felt about the guild and Lucy, and he truly felt sad to push this on me last minute, but as a favour for all of the kindness he's shown me my life, I agreed to this last mission. A farewell to my friends and family at the guild, and then I would disappear off into the sunset. I did my best to put on my usual attitude around my friends, unbeknownst to Lucy only that I was hurting horribly on the inside. When we got to the meeting place for the four guilds, I saw all the powerful mages that had allied themselves with Fairy Tail, and I thought that this mission was going to be a piece of cake. I would do my part, and then part ways with my friends...forever. One last guild had yet to arrive, but I felt...a strange sensation. It was something I had never smelled before, but the aroma was...intoxicating. And that's when you showed up, Wendy. The light that saved me from my own darkness." He smiled down at the girl, looking fascinated at his story and beaming at his kind words. Natsu took her hand and led her outside through the back door, and into the garden behind the guild. It truly was a beautiful sight, flowers of every kind and the scent of nature emanating from the small courtyard was amazing.

"Let me show you something. I still have to finish my story." said Natsu, grinning at the young girl as he lifted her off of her feet and into a princess carry.

"H-hey!" shouted Wendy, surprised at his sudden movement. Natsu's body began to glow with a red aura as he uttered the spell,

_Flight of the Fire Dragon. _

Upon uttering this spell, Natsu (with Wendy still in his arms) began to soar through the air, flying high over the snow-covered town of Magnolia. Wendy gasped at Natsu's seemingly new ability, but was amazed at the view that she had right beneath her. Being a Sky Dragon Slayer, she had no fear of heights, and she never dreamed of being able to fly like this after Grandine had left her. They went beyond Magnolia and flew and landed on top of a hill that overlooked the town, which glowed brightly with Christmas lights. After landing, he led her over to the single tree that stood in the middle of the hill and they both sat down, Natsu leaning against the trunk with Wendy leaning against his chest. She loved being close to him, and his natural warmth on a cold winter night was marvelous.

"So, Natsu-san..." said Wendy, eyes still closed and snuggling against his chest. "Why don't you finish your story for me?"

"Aye. So after all of the four guilds had come together, I was surprised to find that the strange scent I had smelled was coming from you. When you revealed you were the Sky Dragon Slayer, I was shocked. The only other Dragon Slayers I knew were Gajeel and Laxus, and while their smells were different from other guildmates, yours was something that I felt...drawn to. Like, I had to be around you, and if I wasn't, it bothered me. Anyways, amidst my surprise at meeting you, I kept a level head and reminded myself that I was here only as a favour to the Master and I shouldn't use it as an excuse to socialise. When you got taken away though, something inside of me just snapped. It was like losing Lisanna or Lucy all over again, and my heart couldn't take another beating like that. So, I did what any sensible guy would've done and rescued you, and when I did, it was this new feeling. It was like I was making repairs to my broken heart, filling in the cracks that Lisanna and Lucy had previously left. My instincts were telling me _protect, defend, keep her close to you, don't let them lay a finger on her, _things that I had felt before but they were much stronger this time. After Oracion Seis was defeated and Nirvana stopped, I was almost reluctant to leave. In such a short time, I had become so entranced by you that I was unable to think properly. I felt horrible knowing that your guildmates were an illusion and when I saw you break down in tears, I wanted to cry myself. It was like watching myself all over again, abandoned time and time again by my family and friends, unable to live easily and happily. When you joined Fairy Tail, I knew there was no way that I could leave you alone. My life had new meaning to it, a purpose, and that was to protect you. To keep an eye on you, to help you along your own journey, to help you achieve the happiness I couldn't. People say I'm an idiot, but I notice when girls like you reciprocate my feelings. To know that you felt that way about me...it was the greatest blessing I had ever recieved. And now, to know that our feelings are mutual," he stopped to grin at her, "I'm looking forward to what comes next."

Wendy was so proud, sad and happy for Natsu all at once. She was proud that he was finally able to overcome his feelings of grief and sadness, and to find a new purpose to live for. She was also sad that he had to go through all of those terrible experiences alone and to get his heart broken more than once by those closest to him. Although she felt bad for her friend, she also was happy to help him repair his heart and to bring him back to his once cheery self, the one that she had truly fallen in love with.

"I love you, Wendy. I always will." said Natsu.

Without thinking, she leaned her head forward and kissed him passionately. Natsu was clearly surprised by this sudden show of affection, but he welcomed it with open arms. She was so happy that he was the one to tell her that he loved her first, and although her emotions were a complete mess right now, one thing was clear to her. Pulling away for breath, she replied, "I love you too, Natsu-san. I want to be there for you for the rest of your life. I want to protect you too. Will you protect me, Natsu-san?" she said, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. He brought her forehead to his and replied, "Of course, Wendy. There's nothing I want more in this world. But now that we're in love, should we..." Natsu asked shyly, as Wendy remembered the book he had been reading not too long ago. She turned her head so her neck was facing him, and said, "Yes, Natsu-san. Mark me, I want to be your mate for the rest of my life. Will you have me?" That was all Natsu needed to hear, giving into his instincts and biting into the young girl's neck, she yelped in the sharp pain but he began to lick away at the wound, his saliva healing the spot where he had bit her and closing the wound, only to leave a mark that resembles a flame on her neck. This feeling was nothing she had ever felt, she could feel everything that she did in sync with her new mate, even their breathing and heartbeat. This was like something out of a dream for the young girl, she never could have imagined this would have happened so fast, as she smiled in realisation that the man that had stolen her heart had handed her the key to his, forever.


	4. Chapter 4

Christmas in Magnolia Chapter 4

**Authors Note: Thank you so much to everyone that has read or enjoyed the story so far, I'm still figuring out my writing style but if you liked the last chapter I will probably be sticking to that length and style for the rest of the story. The length of the story will be at least 2 or 3 more chapters (It won't go past Christmas time but I'm considering a sequel if this story does well enough, I really love this pairing as well as writing for it and I'm having a good time writing this story for you guys. Enjoy!**

Wendy awoke to the sound of birds chirping and a pink sunrise coming over the horizon. As she rubbed her eyes, she began to recall the events of the previous night with her partner, and she sighed in relief knowing that all of her worries were resolved with the confession between the two Dragon Slayers on the hill that fateful night. She hadn't even noticed that she was still outside, her head still on her mate's chest as he slept peacefully with a grin on his face. _I wonder what he's dreaming about_, she thought, giggling to herself that she had a good idea of what his dream was about. She got up slowly, as to not wake Natsu up from his slumber, and stood to stretch her stiff muscles. She felt the spot where Natsu had marked her, and was surprised to find that it was quite warm. It was like her little piece of Natsu, and although it was very new to her, she treasured the bond that she and her pink-haired friend shared. At the thought of fire, she recalled the excerpt from the book: something about Dragon Slayers that have mated being able to control each other's respective elements? She held her hand out, trying to summon any of the power she might have received from Natsu, and was shocked when a flame burst from her palm and crackled loudly in her hand. _Amazing, I can use Natsu-san's magic now!_ she squealed internally at all of the crazy events that had conspired since the day before. Getting an idea, she took the fire that still crackled in her one hand and summoned wind in her other hand and brought the two together. The wind began to swirl inside the fire and the fire turned into a roaring blaze, seemingly amplifying the power of the fire tenfold. She was impressed at how well the two elements went together, and wondered what other abilities she inherited from her…boyfriend? She still wasn't sure what to call him. She figured she could ask him that when he woke up. She walked off toward the forest, pausing to look back at Natsu before continuing into the tree line before arriving at a clearing. She thought she should try mixing together some of her attacks with Natsu's fire to see what transpired from the combination. Readying herself, she tried the first thing that came to mind,

_Roar of the Flaming Sky Dragon!_

Upon uttering the spell, a mixture of fire and air erupted from the young girls mouth and left an enormous section of the forest destroyed by the insanely powerful attack. Wendy's jaw hit the floor at her unpredictable level of destruction. _That was even more powerful than Natsu-san's Roar of the Lightning Flame Dragon!_ Amazed but somewhat afraid at her new power, she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Natsu smiling down at her.

"That's my girlfriend. Even stronger than me." he said, ruffling her hair affectionately.

_He called me his girlfriend!_ she thought, smiling back up at her new boyfriend.

"There's no way I'm stronger than you, Natsu-san. You're easily one of the strongest in the guild. Now that we share our Dragon Slaying magic, you might be the strongest in the guild, maybe even as strong as Gildarts-san." she replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Wendy. I'm not the only one who got stronger after we mated. Who knows, both of us might be the strongest in the guild. Why don't we go prove how strong we are to everyone else?" said Natsu. It was no surprise he was thinking of fighting, but she was glad that he was starting to act like himself again. Depressed/sad Natsu was the worst kind of Natsu, and if fighting made him feel better, she had no other choice but to agree. He hunched over and picked her up, giving her a piggyback ride. She loved the playful, affectionate side of her boyfriend and she was laughing hysterically all the way to the guild. Even when Natsu used his head (literally) to open the doors to the guild, she was still tearing up with laughter and she could feel the eyes of everyone in the guild on them as they ran past all of their guild mates. All of the girls squealed and went "Awwww!" and Wendy swore she could've seen Gray watch them in horror as Juvia jumped onto his back shouting, "Juvia wants Gray-sama to give her a piggyback ride too!" as Gray screamed and tried to throw her off while she held on for her dear life. She laughed at Juvia's show of affection, and secretly wished that Gray returned Juvia's affection. She had a hunch, but she wouldn't pry. Natsu stopped abruptly before reaching the bar where Mira was stationed, flinging her forward off of his shoulders. As she braced for the impact of hitting the floor, she felt a gust of wind underneath her, turning her right side up and into Natsu's arms. Mira and everyone that witnessed the spectacle was speechless, not only at his show of affection but at Natsu's use of Wendy's magic so skilfully.

"Natsu! How did you do that?!" shouted Mira, who couldn't believe what she had just seen with her own eyes. Natsu grinned, and removed his scarf and pointed to a large mark on his neck that resembled a gust of wind, similar to the one Wendy now had on her neck.

"Natsu!...When did you get a tattoo?" asked Mira.

Chucking, he replied, "It's not a tattoo. This is the mark I received from Wendy when we mated."

**Silence.** Wendy face palmed, embarrassed at Natsu's complete lack of a filter for such sensitive and important information. Mira didn't say anything, and instead, calmly walked around from the bar and up to Natsu who watched her with a confused look on his face. He wasn't expecting her to slug him right in the stomach, sending him flying across the room and he hit the pillar with such a force the pillar was destroyed.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HER NATSU?! She's only 14 years old for God's sake! She's too young to be doing…that!" shrieked Mira, her face contorting with rage at the young man. When Natsu emerged from the dust cloud created by the impact, everyone was shocked to see he barely had a scratch on him. Mira looked equally as surprised but chose not to say anything.

"Ouch, that almost hurt Mira," he replied with a confident smirk on his face, "but it's not what it seems to be. When I say that we mated, like dragons, the male marks the neck of the female. We didn't do…that. She's too young for that, and I would never take advantage of her like that. She is my girlfriend after all." He smiled over at Wendy, who was grateful for him taking initiative to explain the situation, as well as his concern for her innocence as well, something she figured a lot of men didn't take into account.

"Oh…I'm sorry Natsu. I didn't understand you, I know that you must care deeply about your…girlfriend," Mira said, still in disbelief at the couple that appeared overnight at the guild, "but how did you not get hurt by my punch just now? I hit you as hard as I could."

"When dragons or Dragon Slayers mate, they share their powers with each other. It lets me use Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer magic and she can use my Fire Dragon Slaying magic. It's probably a combination of the passive healing from Wendy's magic as well as the combination of the strength of our two life forces. It also explains the mark on our necks." Natsu replied.

Wendy nodded and removed the scarf she had been wearing to cover the mark to reveal a larger pattern than the previous night of a large flame. Everyone ooh'ed and aah'ed at the intricate markings on the two Dragon Slayers. Now that the initial shock had begun to wear off, everyone gathered around the new couple to wish them well. Wendy was whisked away to a table with all of her female friends to congratulate her on winning Natsu's heart as well to hear the recollection of the previous night, to which she kindly refused, stating that was between Natsu and her. Natsu was also pulled off to the side where his male friends slapped him on the back and congratulated him on such a catch.

"I didn't know you had it in you Natsu. But no matter how many power-ups you get flame brain, I'll still kick your-" Gray's sentence was cut short as Natsu uppercutted Gray with such a force he went through the roof and off into the distance with a twinkle.

"Jeez, not in front of my girlfriend, exhibitionist." He said, laughing to himself and everyone else around him sweat-dropping at his antics and shivering at the sight of Natsu's insane power.

As soon as the excitement began to die down, Natsu took his girlfriend's hand and led her on top of a table as he announced,

"LISTEN UP! Me and Wendy have become stronger than ever before, and we're ready to kick anyone's ass here. Come on!" He raised Wendy's arm like she has just won a boxing match, "MY GIRLFRIEND IS STRONGER THAN ALL OF YOU! JUST TRY AND BEAT US!"

Nobody in their right mind stepped up to challenge either one of them, seeing what he did to Gray only minutes ago. Just as it was looking like nobody was going to challenge either one of them, Erza set down her fork that she was using to eat her strawberry cheesecake and spoke up, saying,

"I challenge you, Natsu! Show me how strong you've become!"

Natsu grinned ear to ear at his long standing rival and said,

"Yeah! I get to beat up Erza first! Come on everyone!"

Natsu motioned to the door as he and Erza stepped outside. Not wanting to miss such a good fight, the guild members poured out of the front doors and into a field where the fight would take place.

Natsu tossed his vest to the side, revealing his tanned, muscular body which Wendy couldn't help but stare at for longer than should have been necessary. Natsu's mark reached all the way around his neck and down to the top of his chest. Erza seemed to forget why she had come outside as she too stared at her boyfriend's toned body. Wendy coughed loudly to remind Erza why she was there (also letting her know to stay in her lane). There was no need for a countdown of any sort as she requipped into her Black Wing Armour and flew at Natsu, as he effortlessly dodged her slashes with inhuman speed. Using Wendy's magic to propel himself off of the ground, he brought his leg down in a kick shouting,

_Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!_

Sensing danger, she dodged his attack, and upon impact with the ground, sent a ripple of force through the ground that felt like a small earthquake to the bystanders. Erza requipped into her Flight Armour and delivered a kick to the back of Natsu's head that made a sickening crack as he skipped along the ground like a pebble on a body of water. Wasting no time, Natsu flew at Erza with a passion burning in his eyes unlike that the other guild members had seen before. Natsu and Erza traded blows back and forth at an incredible speed, they could barely keep up with the two mage's hand to hand combat. In between the chaos Natsu managed to knock Erza into the air and he jumped up, bringing his hands into a fist and shouting,

_Firing Lightning Sky Dragon's Hammer!_

She had the sense to change to her Adamantine Armour predicting a very powerful attack, and upon blocking his strike, her shield shattered and she was knocked back across the field, skidding along the grass. The guild members were in disbelief at the sheer power of his attacks. The only thing that had penetrated Erza's Adamantine Armour before was the magic cannon Jupiter, and that took 15 minutes to recharge and had to be mounted inside of Phantom Lord's guild hall. Once the smoke cleared, they saw Erza struggling to maintain her footing, clearly wounded from her battle with Natsu. Erza wasn't one to give up without a fight, however, and shouted,

_Second Origin: Release!_

Requipping into her Nakagami Armour meant that she was really on the ropes, but Natsu had a trick up his sleeve too. Smirking, he said,

_Second Origin: Release! Primal Dragon Force!_

"Primal Dragon Force?" Erza asked in disbelief. _Is he going to go all out too? And when did he learn such a technique?_ Wendy thought to herself. After Natsu said that, his body began to glow with a red aura. In contrast to his normal Dragon Force that covered part of his face with scales, Natsu's entire body was coated in a beautiful arrangement of shiny red scales. His hair has grown to a length that reached down his back similar to Gajeel's, and his fingers sported claws and his legs sported talons. He barely resembled his old form, and looked like a small scale version of a dragon with human shape. She took her eyes off of her boyfriend for a moment to look at Erza and saw her…_shaking?_ For Erza to be afraid of Natsu…just how strong was he? As if on cue, Natsu replied in a much deeper and throatier tone,

"Took you by surprise, huh? This is the true depth of what it means to be a Dragon Slayer, Erza." He clenched his fist, and continued, "This power isn't something you can obtain without meeting certain conditions. I'm only one of two people who ever used Dragon Slayer magic this powerful. The other being Acnologia, but he's not around to tell you the story. He became a true dragon from his lust for power, I became a dragon to protect those I care about. If I can see my friends smiling, and happy…" he looked around at Wendy, Lucy and Lisanna and smiled, "I don't have to be human. Now let's finish this."

Moved by his speech, Erza nodded and said,

"Come!"

The two clashed, Erza attacking with all of her force, while Natsu stood still and seemed to take her attack, but then her spear was caught in Natsu's hand as he chuckled and said,

"You lose."

Upon saying that, Natsu unleashed an attack so strong even Erza knew that this was the end of their fight,

_Dazzling Blaze of the Lightning Sky Dragon!_

The power collided with Erza's armour created an explosion that knocked back all of the guild members and caused the citizens of Magnolia to stick their heads out of their windows wondering what the noise was all about.

Erza lay unmoving on the ground, at Natsu's feet who was looking down on her with a blank expression.

Fearing the worst, Wendy started to run forward towards Erza to use her magic to heal hear when Natsu stopped her.

"You don't need to do anything Wendy, I'll heal her." he said.

Taking his hands together, he placed them over Erza's body as they began to glow green much like her own magic. In his _Primal Dragon Force_, his magic was amplified immensely, and after seconds she began to open her eyes and looked up at Natsu.

His scales began to fall off and his hair receded back to it's normal length as he reverted to his normal form, looking slightly banged up himself after the battle.

He picked up Erza in a princess carry and began the walk back towards the guild to bring her to the infirmary. Wendy couldn't believe the battle that had just gone down in front of her. She followed her boyfriend back inside of the guild and into the infirmary and helped him continue to heal Erza for a few more minutes until she was able to stand on her own. Erza congratulated Natsu on his first victory against her, and she told him she was pleased to have such a strong mage in the guild. Wendy pouted at all the attention her boyfriend was giving Erza and not her, when he took her and raised her up onto his shoulders, running around the guild screaming, "I beat Erza!". She giggled at his excited ranting and she ran her fingers through his pink hair, which she knew that he loved. Hearing his stomach grumble, Natsu stated, "Man, I'm starving. What about you Wendy?"

"I'm pretty hungry too Natsu-san, why don't we get something to eat?" she replied. He agreed and set her down as they walked off towards Natsu's house, as he had promised he would make dinner for the two.

***At Natsu's House***

"You gotta try this fire Wendy, it's delicious!" he exclaimed, bringing over two plates of fire and setting one down in front of her.

"Is it OK for me to eat that, Natsu-san? I've never had fire before."

"Don't knock it 'till you try it. Here, open up." he said, taking a spoonful of the fire and bringing it to his girlfriend's mouth. Reluctantly, she opened her mouth and sucked up the fire, which to her surprise, was delicious.

"Wow Natsu-san, your fire is delicious!" she said, digging into her plate. He beamed back at her, as she was the first one to compliment his cooking. They chatted happily over their plate of fire (Wendy had seconds) and she was glad she had allowed her boyfriend to treat her to such a delicious home cooked meal. She yawned, as it was getting late, and Natsu said,

"Are you staying at Fairy Hills tonight, Wendy?"

"Hmmm. Well, it is quite cold outside. Maybe I'll stay here with you tonight?" she replied with a sly smile on her face.

"Sounds good to me!" yelled Natsu, sweeping her off her feet and bringing her over to his bed and setting her down. She crawled under his covers and waited for him to join her. He removed his vest and baggy pants (No, he's not naked) and crawled into his bed and snuggled up beside Wendy.

"Hey, Natsu-san, doesn't Happy sleep at your house too? Where is he?" she asked, not turning her body around to stop Natsu from spooning her.

"Ah, I told him to stay with Lucy for a while. It's for the best, I like being alone with you sometimes." he replied.

"Have you gotten over your feelings for…" Wendy couldn't finish her sentence, afraid she would make him sad, but he finished it for her.

"Lucy and Lisanna? Yes. Now that I have my own love I don't have to worry about other girls or their affection. You're the only one for me, don't forget that." Natsu said, nuzzling his head in her now-messy blue hair.

"That's…good to hear…" Wendy began, but she succumbed to her exhaustion and the heat surrounding her body and drifted off into a deep sleep. Natsu smiled at her, and closed his eyes too.

_She's a keeper, Dad._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Authors note: Hello again everyone! Thanks for all the people that left reviews, favs or follows**

**on the story so far. I'm thinking about wrapping it up in the next probably 2 chapters (I don't**

**want to drag it along any more than necessary.) Also, did I do alright on the fight scene last**

**chapter? It went a little fast in my opinion, but it was intended to be fairly one-sided. Anyways,**

**enjoy!**

December 24th, Christmas Eve

Natsu awoke to find his girlfriend under his arm, still fast asleep with a small smile on her face.

_Damn, she's cute when she's asleep._ Natsu thought as he pulled the covers off of him, being

careful not to disturb the young girl's sleep. Stretching before getting dressed, he clothes

himself and stumbling over to the kitchen, where he prepared a breakfast of fire for himself.

Natsu yawned, tired from yesterday's excitement and battle but still determined to do his best

today to make his girlfriend and everyone else happy. Upon smelling the fire cooking in the

kitchen, Wendy rolled over, not finding her boyfriend that had fallen asleep with her the night

before. Figuring he must have been cooking breakfast, she rolled out of bed and followed after

Natsu into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Natsu-san." she said sleepily.

"Oh, hey Wendy. You want some fire too?" he asked, gesturing at the pan he was cooking with.

"Yes, please," she replied, as he filled her plate with fire and put it in front of her. "Hey, Natsu-

san, since it's Christmas Eve, have you gotten a present for anyone yet?" she asked, secretly

hoping that he had gotten something for her and her alone.

"Hehe, that remains a secret, Wendy. If I told you what your present was, it wouldn't be a

surprise, now would it?" he replied. "Never mind that, how about we spar today? I'm curious to

how strong you've become too."

"Oh…well, I don't really think that's…" she began, but he cut her off.

"Don't even start, Wendy," he said, grabbing her hand affectionately from across the table,

"You're crazy strong, just as much as I am if not more. Doubting yourself will only hurt you, you

need to be more confident in your abilities or you'll never be able to help your friends if they

need you. Please don't make the same mistakes I made."

"What do you mean Natsu-san? You've always been strong, for what reason would you doubt

yourself?" she asked.

He sighed at her question, most likely bringing up some bad memories. Finishing his plate of

fire, he set his spoon down on the table and begin to speak,

"Before we mated, I'm sure you've witnessed me lose quite a few battles, and if I didn't lose

them, I needed assistance from someone one way or the other. I always criticised myself for

not being able to defeat anybody on my own, and it caused me to have a resentment towards

my guild members. Sure, they weren't doing anything wrong, and all they were doing was

helping me defeat the enemy as any comrade would do, but I secretly hated them for

interfering. Why couldn't they let me do it myself, for what reason did they think they had to

step in? Did they think I was weak? I believed it myself, I mean, I couldn't even win the fights

that mattered most. The fight against Gajeel, Zero, Hades… am I all that I'm cracked up to be?

All I would hear from people is "strongest, brave, unbeatable…" but I'm none of those things. I

couldn't even protect Lucy when it mattered most. I couldn't defeat Zero without Jellal's

flames. I couldn't finish Hades without my Team and Laxus' lightning. I saw myself as weak, but

that changed as well when I met you."

Beaming down at the bluenette listening closely to his

story, she couldn't help but grin just as big as he was. She loved that she was so important to

the young man, and that she had brought him out of many dark places in his life. It was odd,

they had only been in love for a few days but it felt as though he had been in her life so much

longer, and she never wanted him to leave her side now that she had experienced such

wonderful feelings.

"When I met you, that strange feeling that I had that told me to protect you was where I began

to draw strength from being near you. I'm not sure if it was my instincts telling me to protect

my potential mate, maybe it was fate or just that I looked at you like a little sister that I should

protect regardless. I don't know why it made me stronger, but it did, and I still try to think of

what it was that I felt that day. When I sent Gajeel down the mineshaft and faced off against

Sting and Rogue in the GMG, people thought I was crazy. Taking on the strongest members of

the strongest guild at the time, while they were in Dragon Force? It seemed impossible, but I

knew that I could do it. Why?" he asked, squeezing her hand tighter, giving her a small smile,

"because I knew that you were cheering me on. When I have you behind me giving me courage,

there's nobody that I can't beat. That's why I want to see how strong you've become…because I

want to know if I can make you stronger too."

Wendy shed a few tears at her boyfriend's kind words and replied,

"Of course you make me stronger, Natsu-san. You're the whole reason I was able to join the

guild, to make so many real friends and go on so many adventures. You were always the first to

jump into the action, but you always waited to make sure that I was right behind you. You wipe

my tears away when I cry, lift me back up when I fall and light the way when I'm surrounded by

darkness. I was scared at first, that you didn't return my feelings. I was prepared to let you be

with Lucy-san or Lisanna-san, no matter how much it hurt me inside. I only wanted to make you

happy, after everything you've done for me. To know that you felt this way about me too…and

that a weakling like me gave you strength…" she couldn't even finish her sentence, tears

poured down her face as she stood up and jumped into Natsu's arms and cried into his chest, "I

love you so much, Natsu-san! I want to stay with you forever, to raise a family together! Please…don't leave me."

Natsu, surprised at Wendy's actions and words, held her tight and whispered into her ear,

"I love you too, Wendy. I love you more than anything in the whole world, and I would never

leave you alone. I too dream of the day when we can get married and raise a family. There's

nothing else that would make me happier. Because it's always more fun…" he paused, taking

his hand under her chin and moving her face up to meet his onyx-coloured eyes, "when we're

together." He pulled Wendy in for a passionate kiss, tears still streaming down her face. Their

tongues exploring each other's mouths, they stayed like that for a long while until they had to

pull apart for air. Panting, Natsu said,

"Oh, I almost forgot, I got you a little something."

He walked over to a drawer where he opened it and took out a small box with a golden lock. He

ignited his hand to shape his fire into a key, and unlocked the tiny box. Bringing the box over to

Wendy, he motioned for to open her present. Slowly, she opened the box and gasped at the

contents. Inside was a beautifully crafted necklace, adorned in diamonds and rubies. In the

centre was a red jewel that burned with a flame inside. Picking it up, she examined it in her

hands, feeling the great warmth emanating from the jewel in the centre.

"Oh my God, it's beautiful, Natsu-san. This must have cost a fortune!" she exclaimed.

Natsu grinned widely at her reaction to his gift, admiring his work.

"Well, I know a guy who owed me a favour or two and he chipped in some money to help me

pay for it. I made and enchanted the jewel myself, though. Whenever we're near each other, it

will get warmer and warmer. A small amount of my flames are sealed inside the jewel, so as

long as those flames still burn, no matter how far apart we are, you'll know I'm safe."

"Natsu-san…" she began, starting to tear up when Natsu abruptly said,

"Remember what we promised, Wendy? No crying. I'll have to punch myself."

Giggling at his foolishness, she wiped away her tears and said,

"Thank you, really. It…means a lot to me, always being able to know that you're alright. Hey, we

can train later, wanna go to the guild? It is a Christmas Eve after all."

Not needing to respond, he was already out the door, calling after her to follow him. She

hurriedly grabbed her coat and ran after her boyfriend, calling for him to wait up. Upon

reaching him, he turned around quickly and screamed, "The dragon has stolen the princess!",

doing his best villainous laugh and breathing fire up into the sky. She was laughing her head off

at his playful scene and he carried her all the way to the guild, still shouting and laughing at the

top of his lungs. He set her down before entering the guild and they settled for just holding

hands when they walked in. Opening the front doors, they were greeted by a loud "WENTSU!",

the guild members not wanting to say both of their names in succession and just decided on

mixing them together. They smiled and greeted their friends as they went to sit down at the

large round table with their friends Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Erza, Lisanna and Elfman.

"Hello everyone!" Wendy said as she and Natsu took a seat at the table.

"Hey, Natsu, Wendy." said Lucy. Lucy's eyes moved to Wendy's necklace that she was wearing,

pointing it out to the table as everyone "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed, while Gajeel merely grunted.

"Where did you get that Wendy?!" asked Lisanna excitedly.

"Natsu-san gave it to me. The flames in the centre are his own and as long as they burn no

matter how far he is away, it tells me he's alive and thinking about me." she said happily,

earning a shy smile from her boyfriend.

"GIVING GIFTS IS A MAN!" Elfman roared, Lisanna sweat-dropping at her brother's enthusiasm.

"That's…too cute!" Erza suddenly exclaimed. "I wish Jellal was that up front about his feelings

for me."

"Don't worry, Erza-san," Wendy said reassuringly, "I'm sure he cares for you very much, but

he's probably too shy to say anything. Maybe you should be more up front with him, that

worked for me."

"Maybe you're right Wendy. _Kind of odd that I'm taking romantic advice from Wendy, _Erza thought to herself. Then again, who was the one with the boyfriend? Cursing herself for her lack of knowledge on the subject, she stormed away from the table steaming from the ears. Sighing at Erza's hopelessness, Wendy looked at Gray and said,

"Gray-san, who did you buy a present for this Christmas?"

Upon hearing her question, Gray went very red in the face and opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it and closed it again. Swallowing, he sighed and said very quietly,

"...Juvia."

Usually Gray simply saying her name while she was in earshot was enough to make her ecstatic, but when she heard that he had bought her a gift she screamed at the top of her lungs, shattering the nearest glass in Natsu's hand and earning her an angry look from the pink-haired man.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAY-SAMA, YOU GOT JUVIA A PRESENT? JUVIA LOOOOOVES YOU GRAY-SAMA!" she shrieked, chasing Gray through the guild and out the front door. The whole guild erupted in laughter as Gray screamed for help as he hopelessly evaded Juvia who was right at his heels. The guild, getting over the commotion, reverted back to it's noisy and loud environment. After making small talk with the remainder of the table, Wendy began to get bored amongst her friends and decided that they should go spend Christmas Eve having fun. Tugging at her boyfriend's sleeve, she said,

"Hey Natsu-san, do you want to go do something else? This is getting kind of boring."

"Pardon me for being so uninteresting, Wendy," said Lucy with a slightly irritated tone. "What can I do to please you two?"

"W-We didn't m-mean it like that, L-Lucy-san!" Wendy hurriedly replied, trying to make amends. "It's just..."

"Oh, trying to leave so you two can be alone, hm?" said Lucy, with quite an obvious tone of jealousy in her voice.

"And if we are?" said Natsu, only opening one eye to look at Lucy.

"Well, I DON'T LIKE THAT! All you used to do was pay attention to me, Natsu, and now you don't even look at me! What did I do to you?! I was always afraid to tell you how I felt, because I thought that you didn't see me that way, but now...Wendy, Natsu? You were supposed to be the dragon that rescued the princess, my Prince Charming..." said Lucy, her voice faltering and tears streaming down her hurt face. "I want to be happy for you two, but... I can't lose you Natsu! Please!"

Upon saying that, she got up and ran over to Natsu, pulling him into a tight embrace, leaning her head against his shoulder and crying into it. Natsu's face was that of absolute disbelief, unable to process the words he had waited so long to hear her say but they never escaped her lips. The entire guild had gotten dead silent at Lucy's outburst and they all watched quietly, waiting to see what Natsu would do at her confession. Taking her shoulders, Natsu pulled Lucy away from him, looking deeply into her brown eyes. All Lucy saw in his eyes was...sadness? Tears streaming down his face now, he said with a shaky voice,

"...L-Lucy...w-why didn't you..." he could barely form words, he was crying with such emotion even Wendy began to feel sad at the series of events that was taking place before her. _She felt this way all_ _along?! _Wendy thought. It was Lucy's turn to speak now.

"I-I wanted to t-tell you a-after Phantom Lord, b-but I c-couldn't...I was afraid t-that you wouldn't feel the same...But now, I..." she tried to continue, but Natsu put a finger to her lips.

"I...loved you too, Lucy. I...always did, but...now, with Wendy...and..." Natsu couldn't finish speaking as he fell to his knees, his arms on the ground as a large aura of fire erupted around him, his sadness turning into complete rage.

"You were the cause of my sadness! I almost left the guild because of you! And now, you have the nerve to tell me this!? I hated myself for how I felt about you, wanted to die every time I saw your face smiling at me, unaware of how I felt! To tell me how you feel now...WORTHLESS!"

His flames surrounded him in his aura of anger and fury at the blonde Celestial Spirit mage, clearly losing control of himself and his composure. Wendy had never seen Natsu so mad, it was scary to see him in a state of primal rage and animal-like ferocity, growling and snapping at anyone that came near him. He must have still had some control, because instead of doing something he regretted or even attacking Lucy, he fast-walked towards the front door, completely destroying it as he just walked through it, melting all of the snow on the ground as he walked off towards the forest in a spell of anger. Wendy was just as shocked as Lucy at Natsu's outburst, but decided she was the only one who could calm him down and hurried after him. He had broken into a run now, and Wendy had to struggle to keep up with her boyfriend as he ran through the treeline at the edge of the forest, splintering and burning the trees as he passed them. He stopped in the same clearing as the day before and just...screamed. It was the most horrible thing Wendy had ever heard, it sounded like the scream of a wounded animal on it's deathbed. Voice shaking, she said quietly but loud enough that he could hear,

"Natsu-san?"

His back still turned to her, he replied with a surprisingly calm tone for his current state,

"Yes?"

"Please, Natsu-san...Lucy-san didn't mean to hurt you, she just didn't know how to tell you how she felt. She's a lot like me in a way, so please forgive her..." she said with a nervous tone.

He said nothing, apparently deep in thought at her request. Speaking up a few moments later, he said,

"This is...just like before I met you. This feeling. You...said you could save me from my darkness, Wendy. Can't you help me? Please?" he said, turning around to face her to reveal tears slowly falling down his face.

To say Wendy felt terrible was an understatement. It was her fault that he was feeling the way he was right now. She had promised to save him from himself, and now she couldn't even do that. She knew that Natsu wanted to be with Lucy, but he felt an obligation to be with her now that they had mated. If only she had never fallen for him, then maybe Lucy could have confessed to Natsu and he would have finally been happy. She began to tear up as she blamed herself for his misfortune._Why can't I do anything right? _She thought to herself. Natsu noticed her tears, snapped out of his depressed state and walked over to his girlfriend, sweeping her off of her feet and into a princess carry.

"Natsu-san?" she squeaked.

Noticing his altered appearance, she guessed that his Flames of Emotion were powerful enough to activate Dragon Force, his scales now noticable on his face and his hands and feet sporting claws and talons. She also noticed tiny but noticable horns at each one of his temples, something she hadn't seen any Dragon Slayer have before.

"It'll be alright, Wendy. It's not your fault," he said, looking up at the now starlit sky of Magnolia. "Although knowing now of Lucy's feelings, I'd be lying if it didn't make my heart hurt. I wonder what could have been. But," he said, looking into her eyes, "don't think that means that I'll ever leave you. No matter what the circumstances are, you'll always be mine. After tonight, I need you more than ever. I need my own shoulder to cry on sometimes too, you know. Now, let's go back to the guild."

Upon saying that, he used his _Flight of the Fire Dragon _to carry Wendy and himself back to the guild through the beautiful night sky._He really does care about me. After all that he's been through, his heart being broken so many times...How does he keep smiling back at me? _

_"_Even if you are a dragon, you'll always be my princess, Wendy. Don't forget that." he said, flashing his famous grin at the young bluenette once more.


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note: Hello again everyone! Thanks for all the favs and follows so far, especially the super nice Guest that left the nicest review I've ever gotten, thank you so much!I've decided this will be the final chapter of this fic, so I hope everyone has enjoyed or at least thought it was alright/worth your time reading. I definitely will continue writing fics (probably something like a Natsu x Yukino fic next) so if you like my work keep an eye out! I probably won't write another NaWen fic since I'm pretty depleted of creativity as it is with this first story, but a sequel to this fic is still up in the air. If any of you think that might be interesting, please let me know. I like writing for pairings that don't get as much love as the more widely appreciated pairings. If I was really out for the most attention, I would've just written a fluff NaLu fic, but that's not my style (I really love NaLu tho). Enjoy the finale! (I hope I did the pairing justice)**

**December 25th, Christmas Day**

Christmas Day. Wendy was surprised that so much could happen over the course of the five days leading up to the holiday. She wondered how everything could haveturned out if she had taken the route she did the year before and just went on a mission with Charle. _No, everything that's happened is for the best,_ she thought. All of these thoughts ran through her head as she lay half-awake in her bed at Fairy Hills, looking out her window at the gentle snowfall that had begun some time in the middle of the night. The snow and the cold didn't bother her much anymore. From the warmth she felt from sharing Natsu's magic as well as from her necklace, she rarely felt cold anymore. She was never too hot, but she always felt a comforting, toasty heat in every part of her body. She loved not having to worry about dressing in layers and made a mental note to thank her boyfriend later for both gifts. After showering and fixing her hair, she selected a simple red dress and headed over to Natsu's house to wake him up for the day. To pass the time on her trek to her boyfriend's house, she practiced controlling her fire by juggling balls of flame in her hands as she walked. After succeeding in juggling three balls of fire at once, she noticed she had reached Natsu's house. Walking over to the side of his house, she peered through the window to see Natsu passed out on the couch with Happy slumped up against his chest. She giggled to herself at the cute scene, and went back around to the front of his house and tried a little trick that Natsu had taught her the day before. Since Natsu doesn't use normal keys for his house, he has a magical lock that can only be opened by a key made of his fire, meaning that only he (and now Wendy) were able to get into his house. Forming a key in her hand, she turned the flaming object in the lock and opened his door. Stepping inside, she walked over to her sleeping boyfriend and kneeled down and lightly shook him, saying,

"Natsu-san, wake up...It's Christmas!"

He grumbled a bit and rolled over on his side, along with Happy who still managed to stay asleep, and was now facing away from her. She sighed, and remembered something that she did that always peeked her boyfriend up. She ran her small but delicate fingers through his long pink locks, and after only a few seconds his eyes shot open and without even knowing if she was there or not he said,

"Wendy?"

She smiled and replied,

"Yes, Natsu-san?"

"IT'S CHRIIIISTMAS!" he roared, shooting up off of the couch, effectively launching a sleeping Happy across the room and sending him screaming into a pile of laundry. Angrily sticking his head out of Natsu's clothing, he yelled,

"Natsu! What was that for?! I was dreaming about fish!"

"And Charle?" Natsu added with a snicker, causing the blue cat to go red in the face and yell back that it wasn't true. Wendy laughed at the scene that was unfolding in front of her when she noticed something peculiar on her boyfriend's arm.

"Natsu-san, what is that?" she asked, pointing at the odd marking that now covered Natsu's entire left arm like a sleeve.

"I think it's my mark that I got from you when we mated. I've been noticing that it only seems to get bigger the more time I spend with you. I think it's cool though, I always wanted a tattoo!" he exclaimed, flashing his smile and flexing his arm showing off his muscles now covered by her mark. She giggled at his enthusiasm but secretly hoped her mark wouldn't go any farther from her neck. She couldn't ignore that it looked good on Natsu, however. Walking over to Natsu, she asked,

"Do you...mind?" she nervously said, pointing at his mark indicating she wanted to touch it, partially to see what it felt like but she secretly wanted to feel his toned and solid muscles on his arm.

"Sure." Wendy rubbed her hand all over his intricate marking on his arm, which, to her surprise, wasn't warm like hers but cool, like a breeze. She went slightly red as she realised what she was doing and cleared her throat, and said nervously,

"Th-thank you, Natsu-san."

"Let me know anywhere else you need to get acquainted with." he said nonchalantly, clearly oblivious to what he was referencing as Wendy felt all the blood rise to her face as she stammered out,

"O-ok N-Natsu-san. Hey, since it's Christmas Day, shouldn't we go to the guild?" she asked, regaining her composure.

"Yeah, but wait one sec, I gotta change into something special just for you Wendy." he replied with a grin as he ran off to the backyard with a box which held some mystery outfit.

_Just for me? I wonder what that could be, _she wondered. Natsu rarely changed outfits and to hear him say he was putting something on just for her made her feel special. She wasn't prepared for what met her as he re-entered the room though, as her jaw hit the floor. Natsu was wearing what seemed to be a mix of Sting's typical outfit and a Santa Claus suit. It looked like someone had cut off the coat at the chest so Wendy could bask in the glory of Natsu's rock hard abs. As if that wasn't enough, someone had cut off the pants at the mid calf level so she could see his strong leg muscles as well. The coat was sleeveless and Natsu was wearing those odd gloves that Sting wore from the GMG (you know, with those ribbon things hanging off of them?) which were red to match his outfit, further exposing his muscular arms to her eyes, complete with a Santa Claus hat in normal fashion.

"What do you think, Wendy?" Natsu asked seductively, flexing. "You all fired up now?"

"I-I-I-" she began, but couldn't finish her sentence as her eyes explored her mate's body. It was a truly tantalising sight, almost making her give into temptation to jump on him and to indulge her man freely. Natsu gave her no time to compose herself, and jumped on her playfully like a cat, pinning her to the ground, making her go very red in the face as she squealed. Giving into temptation, she kissed Natsu ravenously, as if she was dehydrated and it was the only thing that could quench her thirst. They were passionate but like animals, they moved all around the room as Natsu held her up off the ground in his arms, kissing his mate back fiercely. Glasses and silverware and furniture, nothing was spared from the wrath of the two passionate Dragon Slayers that had been restraining themselves.

"You liiiiiiiike her!" said Happy, rolling his tongue while flying around the room effectively killing the mood. Releasing his girlfriend, Natsu smiled nervously and said,

"Yeah, I do Happy. Ready to go to the guild Wendy?" he asked turning to Wendy, who was still in his arms with her legs wrapped around his back, wanting to continue but ready to leave now that their moment was over.

Sighing, she relied,

"Yeah. Let's go, Natsu-san." Offering his hand for the young girl once again, she accepted it, and allowed him to lead her into her small slice of heaven.

**Three years later**

"Wendy, you feeling alright?" Natsu asked, concerned for his girlfriend's well being. He had grown considerably in 3 years, in both strength and maturity. He had finally become an S-Class mage, along with Gray, Juvia, Elfman, Cana and Wendy herself. He looked older, and his face and body held many scars from his countless battles and quests. Wendy liked these scars, though. It made him look more battle hardened and strong. He was now one of the very strongest in the guild, only equal to the Master or Gildarts. He retained his playful demeanour (no amount of time could take that away from him) but he had become renowned for being one of the smartest fighters in Fiore as well as much more calm and collective than he had been in the past. He was offered the position of Wizard Saint numerous times, but refused every offer. _Politics aren't my strong suit, h_e always replied, but Wendy knew that he turned it down so he could stay at the guild with all of his friends. The guild members knew that Natsu was next in line for the position of guild master, which nobody could contest since he took the most pride in Fairy Tail out of anyone, and knew that he was the best one to nurture it to success. Unlike Wizard Saint, guild master was one position nobody wanted Natsu to turn down.

"Yeah, I'm fine Natsu-san," she replied, "I was just remembering my first Christmas with you three years ago. It's one of my fondest memories." Wendy said with a smile.

Natsu wasn't the only one who had grown the last three years. Wendy has blossomed into a beautiful young woman, her hair now long and flowing down her back in a similar style to Mavis. She was as sweet as ever, but her timid nature had worn away over time, and now she was as confident as Natsu was. Along with becoming an S-class mage, she became the most renowned healer in all of Fiore and was paid insane amounts of money to treat kings and queens from around the world. The body that she had always desired had come to fruition and it would normally garner much attention from men if they didn't know any better than to ignore her while Natsu was around lest they wanted to get beat into a pulp. Beautiful, confident and strong. All of these things wouldn't have been possible without Natsu, whom she believed she owes her life to from saving her from herself and making her into a star.

"Ah. I remember now. Good times, eh?" he replied, ruffling her hair with affection.

"The best." said Wendy, nuzzling her head against his shoulder as they walked towards their guild for the Christmas celebration. She wore her favourite necklace, as well as the many enchanted rings that adorned her hand that Natsu had given her for her birthdays as well as the last two Christmases. Although Wendy didn't need all of the beautiful jewelry, she couldn't help but feel like a real princess. As they entered the guild, they were met with their usual chorus of "WENTSU!", to which they both smiled brightly and waved at everyone. Shortly after taking a seat with their friends, Master Makarov came up on the stage that had been prepared for this year's festivities and began to speak on the mic,

"Welcome, Fairy Tail and Merry Christmas!" which was met with a roar of applause and cheering from the crowd.

"I'm so glad all of my kids can be here for another Christmas at Fairy Tail. The celebrations will begin shortly, but first I have a couple of announcements. First, this will be my last year as your guild master, since I will be retiring. Since we are in need of a guild master, I will hold a short vote for the new master, which I have a feeling won't be much of a contest. Who do you all want as the next master?!" he yelled into the mic, waiting for the response from the crowd.

"NAAAAAATSUU!" roared the guild, causing Natsu to spit out his beer in surprise.

"Me?" he asked in confusion. "But what about Erza, or Laxus, or.."

Upon his disbelief that he was elected to be the next master, Erza took the liberty to get up on the stage and take control of the mic.

"Natsu..." she began, "don't you DARE think for one second that you don't deserve to be guild master. You've done more for this guild then anybody, including Laxus and I. Three years ago, I would have never believed you were capable of such responsibility. But after you and Wendy got together around Christmas three years ago, I've noticed an unbelievable change in your strength and maturity. You're easily one of the strongest in the whole guild, and you've become just as mature or serious as me. You're more than capable for this job, please consider what I've said." dropping the mic, the crowd applauded at Erza's speech and looked towards Natsu who had a conflicted look on his face, waiting for his answer.

"Thank you Erza, really, but..."

Sick of his indecisiveness, Gray got up, freeing himself from Juvia's clutches and climbed up onto the stage and grabbed the mic.

"Natsu, listen up! (He no longer calls Natsu names out of respect, as does Natsu) You might have been an idiot in the past, but you've come a long way since then. You're way stronger than anybody else, and I now realise how much I really look up to you, not only as a friend but as a brother. I know that you would do anything to protect your friend and our guild, and in my opinion, nobody else could do the job better than you!"

Finishing his piece, Gray dropped off the stage and walked back to the table where he and Natsu sat, giving him a smile. Natsu, smiling back, pondered his friend's speech, and was about to answer when Wendy suddenly got up and went up onto the stage and picked up the mic.

"Natsu-san, I understand how you feel, but please understand that everyone else in the guild wants you as our master! You're someone that people can rally behind, and someone others can aspire to be like. You made me into the person I always dreamed of, and I can't thank you enough. I love you, Natsu-san, and I want nothing more than to call you Master too!"

A wave of "Awwww"s filled the room, as Natsu himself now stood up and took the stage as Wendy stood still, not moving a muscle as he walked up beside her and took the mic from her hand. Putting his arm around her, he pulled her close to him and began his own speech.

"Everyone...thank you. It means the world to me that you think that I am so worthy of being your master. There's nothing more precious to me then all of my nakama, besides my queen of course," he said, affectionately tussling her hair, earning a blush from the young woman. "I'll do it...on one condition!" he yelled, holding up one finger. "WHAT!?" the guild screamed, eager to hear what his proposal was. Letting the tension build, Natsu pulled a crown from behind his back (where he procured such a thing, she would never know) and placed it on her head, saying,

"Well, being a guild master, I'll need a guild mistress!" Getting down on one knee, he pulled out a ring from his pocket. The ring was gold, adorned with a ruby in the centre, in a fashion similar to her necklace but in the centre, instead of just a flame there was a flame and a gust of wind battling for control.

"A king needs his queen, Wendy. Marry me?"

She was at a loss for words, tears falling down her face, she regained enough composure to say,

"Oh my god, yes! Yes, Natsu-san!" she said, jumping into his arms and holding him close, the guild screaming and cheering beneath them. Looking up at the happy couple, Lucy smiled, a little sad but overjoyed that Natsu had finally found the one.

"Meet your new guild master! Natsu and Wendy Dragneel!" Natsu screamed, breathing fire up into the air.

**After the night's celebration**

Many of the guild members had either gone home or were passed out on the floor following the celebration of Christmas, Natsu's new position of guild master as well as Natsu and Wendy's engagement party all at once. The two Dragon Slayers watched as Gray carried his sleeping girlfriend Juvia away on his back, Gajeel carries his very drunk girlfriend Levy away on his shoulder as she kicked weakly at his back saying she could walk by herself as Gajeel sighed. Even Cana was looking more drunk than usual and Mavis eagerly zipped around the guild (whether astral bodies could get drunk Wendy didn't know). She stopped by the couple doing a somersault, and said happily,

"I never got to congratulate you on becoming the new master Natsu! Congratulations! You too Wendy, on such a steal for a husband."

"Eh...thanks Mavis-san!" she said, unsure if whether the first master was hitting on her fiancée or not.

"You know, I always had a hunch you would be the master one day, Natsu. You're a lot like I was back in the day."

"Really?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I think we're two in the same people!" she said with a glitter in her eyes. Natsu and Wendy sweat dropped at this, but didn't say anything and just laughed nervously.

"Has Makarov told you about Lumen Histoire yet, Natsu?" she asked eagerly.

"Uh...no. I've never heard anything about it, I assumed it was a closely guarded secret." he replied.

"Indeed it is, _Master," _she said, Natsu feeling weird when being addressed as _Master, _"but I'm sure Makarov will show you soon. It might be a bit of a...surprise." she finished, giggling profusely as she cartwheeled away from the couple who looked confused.

Wendy felt her eyelids getting heavy, and let out a long yawn. Natsu, who noticed, asked,

"Ready to turn in Wendy?"

Nodding wordlessly, she stretched her arms out, motioning for her new fiancée to carry her. Smiling, he bent over and scooped Wendy up effortlessly and let everyone know that they were going home. On their way back, Wendy, who was half-awake, noticed that they weren't taking their usual route back to Natsu's house.

"Natsu-san..." she said sleepily, "where are we going?"

"You'll see, Wendy." he said, with a small smirk on his face. Walking through the forest for some time with his hand alit as a light, they finally came upon the same hill that Natsu had brought her three years ago, where she had fallen asleep on his chest after he had confessed his feelings for her. Where the tree and the clear area atop the hill should've been was a small but pretty house that was built in their place. Wendy's eyes lit up as she realised what the house meant, and looked up at Natsu and asked,

"Is that our house?"

"Aye. It's not much, but it's enough for the two of us, three if you count Happy. Do you like it?" he asked, worried his purchase would have been a waste.

She held him tighter and whispered, "I love it. Hey, Natsu-san?"

"Hmm?" he replied.

"This house...this ring...will we...be together, forever?" she asked, worried this was all just a dream.

Natsu stopped walking, and looked down at her with a bright smile.

"Of course, Wendy. I'm yours, in this life and the next. If there is a forever, there's nobody I would rather spend it with than you." Kissing her on the forehead, he lead her to the front door which was emblazoned in a pattern of fire and wind, and formed the flame in his hand into a key and unlocked the door. After showing her around a bit, he remembered they had left because Wendy was falling asleep and carried her up the stairs and into their bedroom. Tucking her in first and then undressing himself, he crawled into bed with her and wrapped his arm around his new fiancée, as they both drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

**Well, that's it! I hope everyone who followed or favourited it enjoyed the story, and I'm still open to the possibility of a sequel for this story, if that is something you'd like to read either leave a review or send me a PM. Thank you for reading!**


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